The Sleeping Vampire

A Sleeping Vampire

Alucard.

The No-Life King.

The hunter of his own kin.

The vampire who was feared by anyone and everyone he came across.

One would say that he never let down his guard. That he was always fighting or killing or just shedding blood in general. Well, Pip can say otherwise.

Just like anyone else, Pip Bernadotte was well afraid of the vampire Alucard. The two had gone on several missions together, but Pip just couldn't shake the feeling that the vampire would turn on him any moment. Yes, Alucard was always kept on a tight leash by the Hellsing family, even from the beginning. Yet Pip always had the feeling that there were eyes on the walls put there by the vampire, and for all he knows, there might as well be.

Alucard was a fearsome creature, all right.

But never had Pip seen him look so... Human.

The light shone through the curtains of the hotel room that he, Alucard, and Seras shared for the time being. The light shone on the vampire's lithe form, making him seem even more alluring.  Seras had gone out for a bit, for the sun didn't seem to affect her that much. Which left Pip and Alucard alone in the room.

Alucard lay sprawled out on the couch, with his red hat covering his face and his glasses set on a table next to him. His knees bent at a comfortable angle, and his hands were clasped over his torso. His head bent backwards over the arm of the couch, and his hair hung like a curtain, just long enough to dust the floor.

The vampire looked so vulnerable, so weakened, so human.

Pip frowned from his seat on the plushy chair across the room. Seras and Alucard's coffins couldn't be brought on the mission this time, as Integra had said that they wanted to draw as little attention as possible. So the vampires had to find makeshift beds during the day. Seras hasn't seemed to shake the habit of sleeping in the nighttime, so for now Alucard was the only one sleeping.

Pip watched the vampire closely. Every slow rise and fall of his chest made Pip frown even deeper. Why did he have a sudden urge to just go over there and... Do something to the vampire. He hadn't decided what yet, but he would do something. Just something that would make the vampire seem more vampire like. Maybe...

Ah yes.

Alucard's face always set him apart. With trademark blood red eyes and his almost feminine jawline, many saw him as beautiful. But that nasty red hat covered everything that set him apart.

Pip stood up slowly, so as not to make any noises that could potentially wake the sleeping monster. He tip-toed quietly over to the head of the couch, and looked down at the figure of the worst monster alive. Well, technically dead.

The red hat was hideous in his eyes. It was so large and wide-brimmed, it didn't even show the vampires neck. Pip scowled.

He reached his hand down and gripped the top of the hat lightly. Lifting it away, he expected his anxieties to go away (ironically) by seeing the vampire's fearful face.

But it was to no avail. The sleeping Alucard's face was relatively... Peaceful.

For once.

Pip stared for a while. Alucard's eyes were closed, and his lips were not curved into a menacing grin like always. No, his features were relaxed, and the only sign of life (or death) was a slight twitch of his eyebrows as the sun hit him right in the face.

Pip was terribly confused and annoyed at why he was noticing this all now, and why it allures him so. All his efforts so far to make that menacing fearful vampiric monster come back were to no avail, and only seemed to make Alucard look even more innocent.

A small grunt followed by an almost inaudible sigh was heard, and the vampire shifted slightly. He turned on his side and let one arm drape over the side of the couch, the other resting beside his form. Pip stared slightly in awe at the vampire. That was probably the most human action he had ever seen the vampire preform.

Crouching down so his face was at eye level with Alucard's, Pip slowly reached out and swiped a hair away from between the vampire's eyes. His finger stroked the vampire's skin for a mere moment, but that was all it took to make Pip adore the vampire even more than usual. He traced his finger down the surprisingly warm skin of Alucard's cheekbone, and cupped the cheek of the most famous and deadly vampire that ever walked the earth.

And in the middle of the vampire's sleep, he unconsciously leaned into the touch. In the midst of Alucard's slumber, the foreign sensation seemed to awaken a memory hidden deep within him. A memory he kept locked away, so as not to spark any unwelcome memories. A memory of a beautiful maiden with long flowing locks, whose touch was the only welcome thing in the death like life he had lived.

Alucard's eyes flew open, startling Pip, who froze in place with his hand still cupping the vampire's cheek. Alucard's pupils were dilated, and it looked as if he had just awoken from a truly frightening nightmare.

The vampire's eyes locked with the human's no more a mere second, before he came to his senses. Alucard growled, a baritone sound that seemed to verberate around the whole room. A gloved hand shot out and grasped the frozen hand of Pip Bernadotte.

Yet even with the warning sound and the threatening grasp of the vampire, Pip seemed to keep remembering how calm and happy the vampire had seemed just moments ago.

And so he kept his hand there, resting against the vampire's cheek.

And the vampire let go of Pip's wrist.

And at that moment, the evil, menacing vampire seemed more like a lost puppy than anything else.